Basketball The Main Catalyst Behind Mississippi's Strong March Performance in Sports Betting Revenue

Mississippi will be grateful for the month of March which turned out to be very profitable for this state in sense of revenue generated through sports betting channels.

Total wagering amount (handle) made an impressive 28.9% leap on a monthly basis, to $32.4 million. Basketball was the key contributor to overall good results during this month, as it ed for $25 million of total bets – or 77%.

March Madness and NBA Play-offs Overture

That fact really is no wonder since March is in many ways a pivotal part of basketball seasons, both in the professional league and in collegiate sports: NCAA’s annual basketball tournament, also known as March Madness…

…is taking place, stirring up incredible interest nation-wide. The tournament runs from March 19th until April 8th (this year’s winners are University of Virginia). Also, March marks the final stages of NBA’s regular season during which teams take their positions ahead of play-offs.

The total sports betting revenue in Mississippi grew 77.7% month-on-month, to $4.9 million. Total market hold amounted to 15.11%. Revenue generated from basketball contributed with 70.4% of total revenue, ing for $3.4 million.

The Pecking Order of Sports

The second most popular betting product during last month…

…was sports parlay cards: $4.4 million in wagers were collected, while the total revenue amounted to $1 million. Baseball came far behind at third, with $714,993.28 in stakes and only $177,817.65 in profits. Other sports have taken $2.4 million in bets from punters and amassed a revenue of $236,891.

Coastal casinos in Mississippi made the most revenue: their sportsbooks took $18.5 million in handle and $2.5 million in revenue, despite the lowest hold percentage of 13.77%.

The northern region’s consumers wagered in $9.2 million. Sportsbooks there held 14.51% of stakes ($1.3 million). Central region collected $4.7 million in handle and $1 million in profits. This region’s hold was the biggest – 21.53%.

Thirteenth Step

In February, the Mississippi Gaming Commission has unanimously granted approval for the construction of the state’s 13th land-based casino. It will be erected in the Gulf Coast region and will be named Long Beach Harbor Resort.

The company behind the project, Long Beach Harbor Resorts LLC, had its CEO, businessman, James Parrish, comment the forthcoming resort:

“We’re delighted with the Mississippi Gaming Commission’s approval of the site as a legal gaming site. We look forward to moving to the next step, which is to secure funding for the project. We also look forward to working with the city of Long Beach on the architectural design of the project.”

Source:

“Basketball dominates Mississippi betting market in March”, igamingbusiness.com, April 25, 2019.